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R. S. GLLESPIE.

- AIR LOCK FOR GAISSONS, &c. Y Nm 576,445. Patented Feb. 2, 189|?.

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lAIB. LOOK FOR GAISSNS, &G.

No. 576,445. Palt'entedfeb. 2; 1897.

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RICHARD S. GILLESPIE, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

AIR-Look Foa oAlssoNs, as.

SPECIFICATION `forming part of Letters Patent No. 576,445, datedFebruary 2, 1897.. i Application filed July 20, 1896. Serial No.599,933. (No model.)

-To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD S. GiLLEsrIE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residin g at New York, in the county of New York and State ofNew York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Air-Locks forCaissons, &c., of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to air-locks arranged on the upper ends ofcaissons for constructing subaqueous and other foundations and the likeor in operative connection with ap paratus designed for tunnelingpurposes. In this class of apparatus upper and lower sets y of doors orvalves are employed in such manner that buckets can be raised into theairlocks while the upper valves are closed to prevent the escape ofcompressed air and the lower doors or valves then be closed to preventescape of compressed air from the caissons, when the upper doors orvalves are open ed for unloading the buckets of material which has beenraised from the caissons or for loading the buckets with :material to becarried down into the caissons.

It has heretofore been proposed to employ cylinders and pistons foropening` and closing the doors of an air-lock by reciprocating thepistons, but the prior construction and arrangement are objectionable inthat portions ofthe cylinders, the stuiiing-boxes, and portions of thepiston-rods are located within the air-lock itself, and when the doorsare closed the cylinders, stuffing-boxes, and piston-rods are underaiupressure and are not readily accessible nor visible to the eye of theattendant or operator.

The chief object of my invention is to provide piston and cylindermechanism so constructed and applied that the cylinders, with theirstuffing-boxes, piston-rods, and pipe connections for supplying theworking fluid, are located wholly outside of the air-look, where theyare under the eye of the attendant and are conveniently accessiblewhenever necessary.

rlhe invention also consists in certain other features of constructionand combination or arrangement of parts hereinafter described andclaimed, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure l is a sectional side elevation of an air-lock applied to theupper end of a caisson or similar structure and constructed inaccordance with my invention. Fig; 2 is a top plan view of the same. lFig. 3 is a sectional View taken on the line 3 3, Fig. Fig. 4t is adetail vertical sectional view of the stuffing-box carried by the crossbar or plate which cooperates with the upper sliding doors or valves toclose the top of the air-lock, and Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view ofa modified form of packing for the lower doors or valves.

In order to enable those skilled in the art to make and use myinvention,Iwill now describe the same in detail, referring to the drawings,wherein- The numeral l indicates a cylinder or structure which may be acaisson for constructing subaqueous or other foundations and the like ormay be part of an apparatus designed for tunneling purposes, whereinwork is effected in the presence of compressed air, as is well known.The upper end of the cylinder or structure l is surmounted by anair-lock casing 2, having a somewhat enlarged or eX- panded lowersection or chamber et, which is secured to the upper end of` thecylinder or structure l in any suitable manner.

The section or casing 4. may or may not be of the same diameter as themain casing 2 of the air-lock, but, preferably, it is enlarged orexpanded to more readily accommodate the opening and closing of thelower doors or valves 5 of the air-lock.

The casing 2 is preferably in the form of a cylinder, but it may be ofany form or shape in cross-section suitable for the purpose in hand.

The lower doors or valves 5 are mounted on rock-shafts 6, to one end ofwhich are secured arms or levers 7, provided with counterweights S, insuch manner that when the arms or levers and counterweights are at oneside of the axes of the rock-shafts 6 the doors or valves 5 will be heldhorizontally in their closed position, as in Fig. l, and when the armsor levers and counterweights are shifted to the opposite side of theaxes of the rockshafts the doors or valves 5 will be swung to and heldin their open position for the passage of the ordinary or usual bucket9, which is employed either to raise material from the caisson or tolower material thereinto for eXecutin g the work in hand, whatever itmay be, such, for example, as constructing subaqueous foundations ortunneling purposes. The

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upper end of the air-lock casing is provided at opposite sides withexterior rigidly-attached horizontally -projecting brackets or supports10, which may be secured in place by bolts, as at 12, or by any othersuitable means. The outer ends of the brackets or supports 10 areprovided with standards or vertical arms 13, to which are rigidlysecured the outer ends of horizontally-arranged piston-rods 14, havingpistons, as at 15, secured to their inner ends. The pistons may be ofany suitable construction and are located within horizontally-slidablecylinders 1G, each having inlet-ports 17, exhaust-port 1S, valve 19, anda supply-pipe 20, whereby it is possible to introduce a workin g fluid,such as air, steam, water, or gas, into the cylinders at either side ofthe fixed piston, thereby causing the cylinders to move horizontally, ineither direction, according to the side of the fixed piston at which theworking fluid is introduced under pressure.

The cylinders 16 are each mounted upon and rigidly xed to the exteriorof a horizontally-sliding door or valve 21, the construction being suchthat the cylinders form actual parts of the doors or valves.

In practice the outer ends of the cylinders are provided withstuiiing-boxes, through which the piston-rods work. The cylinders, asshown, are mounted at the centers of the doors or valves, and the latterhave their ends arranged to slide under the overhanging guide-flanges22, 23, 25, and 2G. The overhanging guide-lian ges 22 and 23 areparallel, and the same remark applies to the overhanging guide-flanges25 and 26.

The guide-flanges 22 and 23, as shown, are connected with theguide-flanges 25 and 2G through the medium of opposite segmentalshapedoverhanging guide-flanges 27 and 28, adapted to receive under them thecurved or arc-shaped ends 29 of a cross bar or plate 30, having at itscenter a stuffing-box 31, through which the bucket-hoisting cable 32extends and is adapted to slide. The tubular bore of the stuffing-box iscoincident with a hole in the cross bar or plate 30, and the lower endof the cable is secured to the bail of the bucket 9. The cross bar orplate 30 is susceptible of revolving in a horizontal plane on the cable32 as an axis, so that when the upper sliding doors or valves 21 areopened the cross bar or plate 3() may be turned in a horizontal plane todisengage its curved or arc-shaped ends 29 from beneath the overhangingsegmental guide-lianges 27 28. Vhen this is accomplished, the bucket maybe raised out of the air-lock and will carry with it the cross bar orplate 30, as will be obvious without further explanation.

The valves 19 are shown as rotary valves to be operated by suitablehandles 34, but I wish to be clearly understood as not limiting myselfto any particular construction of valves, nor do I limit myself to anyparticular arrangement of ports for introducing the Working nid into thehorizontally-slidable cylinders which constitute parts of the uppersliding doors or valves of the air-lock.

The cable 32 is ordinarily a wire rope, as is well known, and although Ihave shown it attached to the bail 33 of the bucket 9, as is usual, I donot limit myself to the use of the bail.

The air-lock casing at a point above the lower doors or valves 5 isconnected with the base portion of the casing through the medium of anordinary pressure-equalizing pipe 35, having a suitable valve 36.

The opposite edges of the cross bar or plate 30 are beveled, as bestseen in Fig. l, to seat against the beveled inner edges of the slidingdoors 2l, and since the parts are preferably of metal the edges referredto may be ground and thus caused to fit fluid-tight against one anotherto effectually prevent escape of com-` pressed air when the upper doorsor valves are closed and the workmen occupy the caisson in the executionof the work in hand.

The lower end of the air-lock casing 2 is provided with an annulargroove, in which is arranged a tubular expansible packing-ring 37,having a nipple 38, one or more, communicating with its interior, sothat a fluid can be introduced into the tubular packing-ring to expandthe same and cause it to make a perfectly air-tight connection with thelower doors or valves 5. The fluid for expanding the tubularpacking-ring 37 may be introduced in any suitable manner; that is tosay, aseparate apparatus may be employed for expanding the packing-ring,or the latter may be nlade to communicate with the interior of theair-lock, so that the compressed air therein contained at certain timeswill flow into the ring and expand the same to make an air-tightconnection with the lower doors or valves when closed or brought totheir horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 1.

Instead of making the expansible packingring in the form of a tube, asshown in Fig. 1, it may be made in the form of a trough or U-shaped, asshown in Fig. 5, so that a fluid introduced thereinto will expand thetrough or U-shaped packing-ring and cause it to press closely againstthe lower doors or valves when they are closed, and thus effect aperfect air-tight joint between the parts.

In the practical operation of the air-lock, assuming that the bucket isto be introduced from the exterior, the lower doors or valves are closedand the upper ones are opened, the bucket is introduced, the cross baror plate 30 is turned on the cable until its curved or arc-shaped ends29 engage under the segmental overhanging guide-flanges 27 28, as inFig. 2, and the working fluid is introduced into the cylinder 16 at theinner sides of the fixed pistons, whereby the fluid-pressure will slidethe cylinders longitudinally in the direction required to close thedoors or valves 21 and seat them tightly against the beveled or othersuitably-shaped edges of the cross IOO IIO

bar or plate 30. The lower doors 5 are then opened and the bucket islowered into the caisson. If the bucket is to be raised from the caissoninto the air-lock, this is accomplished during the time the upper doorsare closed, so that the compressed air contained `in the caisson willnot escape during the time the lower doors or valves 5 are open. Afterthe bucket is raised into the air-lock the lower doors or valves 5 areclosed, and the upper doors or valves are opened by introducing theworking iiuid into the cylinder 16 at the outer sides of the fixedpistons, as will be obvious without further explanation. The cross baror plate is then turned on the cable to disengage its curved orarc-shaped ends from the segmental overhanging guideiianges, and thenthe bucket can be raised out of the air-lock and will carry with it thecross bar or plate. y

Then the upper doors or valves are slid to their closed position and theair-pressure exists in the air-lock, the tendency of the pressure is toraise or press upward the doors 2l and the cross bar or plate 30, butthis is impossible by reason of the fact that the ends of the doors andcross-bar are tirmly held down in operative position by the overhangling guide-flanges 22, 23, 25, and 26.

It will be obvious that in my invention the cylinders,wi th theirstufiingboxes,the pistonrods, and the pipe connections for the fluidwhich works the cylinders back and forth, are wholly outside theair-lock, where they are under the eye of the attendant and areconveniently accessible whenever necessary, which is advantageous andcannot be practicably effected in such prior construction where thecylinders are stationary and are located beneath the doors of theair-lock.

The base section or chamber '4t of the airlock casing 2 is enlarged orexpanded to accommodate the working of the lower doors or valves 5 andto enable the main body 2 of the casing to be diminished in diameter, sothat the bucket will approximately fill it, and thus reduce the amountof space from which the compressed air escapes when the upper doors orvalves are opened to remove or discharge the bucket.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, what I claim isl. The combinationwith an air-lock casin g having guides at its top portion, and doorsslidable in engagement with said guides, of cylinders mounted upon theexterior of the doors outside the air-lock, stationary pistonrods heldrigid outside the air-lock and having pistons arranged in saidcylinders, and pipe connections for supplying a workin g iiuid to thecylinders at either side of the fixed pistons to slide the cylinderslongitudinally and thereby open or close the doors, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination with an air-lock casing, having guides at its topportion, of slidable doors or valves having cylinders mounted on andsecured to their upper sides and sliding back and forth therewith,stationary pistons arranged in the cylinders, and a cross-bar adapted tolie between and against which the doors or valves close, substantiallyas described.

3. The combination with an air-lock casing, having guides at its topportion, of doors or valves slidable in engagement with said guides, andhaving cylinders mounted thereupon, iixed thereto, and slidingtherewith, a

cross bar orplate adapted to lie between and against which the doorsclose, and a stuffingbox mounted on the cross bar or plate and throughwhich the bucket-hoisting cable extends, substantially as described.

4. The combination with an air-lock casing, having guides at its topportion, of doors or valves slidable in engagement with said guides andhaving cylinders mounted thereupon, xed thereto, and sliding therewith,stationary pistons arranged in the cylinders, means for supplying aWorking fluid to either side of the iixed pistons to slide the cylindersand thereby open or close the doors, a buckethoisting cable, and a crossbar or plate swiveled on the cable and against opposite sides of whichthe doors or valves close when the cylinders are slid toward each other,substantially as described. i

5. The combination with an air-lock casing, having upper and loweropening and closing doors, of an annular expansible packing-rin ginserted into the lower portion of the air-lock casing to form anair-tight joint with the lower doors or valves when they are closed, andmeans `for introducing a iiuid into said ring to expand the same,substantially as described. f

(i. The combination with an air-lock casing, having parallel guides 22,23, 25 and 2d, and segmental guides 27 and 2S, at its top portion, ofdoors or valves slidable in engagement with said parallel guides, andhaving cylinders mounted thereupon, fixed thereto, and slidingtherewith, a cross bar or plate for engaging the segmental guides,brackets or supports extending from and rigidly connected to the upperportion of the casing, stationary piston-rods connected with andsupported by said brackets or supports, pistons fixed to the inner endsof the piston-rods and arranged in the cylinders, and means forsupplying a working fluid to the cylinders at either side of the iixedpistons to slide the cylinders longitudinally and thereby open `or closethe doors or Valves, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

RICHARD S. GILLESPIE.

Witnessesz ALBERT H. NoRRIs, THos. A. GREEN.

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